BMW Digital You: AR Exterior Experience

BMW 'Digital You' Exterior Experience

A collaboration with BMW Group Designworks in Los Angeles, featured in the Digital You / Phygital exhibition in LA and showcased at BMW corporate offices in Munich. An augmented reality prototype that transforms the driver's experience when approaching the vehicle, allowing them to change modes and environments with a simple hand gesture.

Process

Collaboration with BMW Group Designworks in Los Angeles, featured in the 'Digital You/Phygital' exhibition in LA, and also showcased at BMW corporate offices in Munich, Germany.

Goal: Create an augmented reality prototype that transforms the driver's experience when approaching the vehicle, allowing them to change modes and environments with a simple hand gesture.

My role: Sourced technology, designed the projection mapping prototype, and engineered the end-to-end experience for the exhibition.

Utilized Meta Spark (an AR program commonly used for Instagram face filters), strategically chosen to create an immersive experience where the user's surroundings and aura were 'sensed' by the vehicle. The prototype changed the colors around the user's face and displayed their digital self within the windshield of the door prototype.

Approach

• Employed Meta Spark to achieve the desired interactive effects, making users feel that their environment was sensed by the vehicle, enhancing the immersive experience.
• Designed the projection mapping prototype to seamlessly integrate augmented reality elements with the physical vehicle model.
• Ensured that the user's ability to change modes and environments with a simple hand gesture was intuitive and engaging.
• Focused on creating a playful and futuristic experience that challenged traditional vehicle design norms.

Outcome

• Celebrated by stakeholders and designers for its futuristic, fun, and playful nature.
• Provoked new thinking around potential use cases for vehicle exteriors in the future.
• Successfully demonstrated the potential of augmented reality to enhance the driver's interaction with the vehicle before even entering it.
• Highlighted the importance of merging digital and physical experiences to create engaging and memorable interactions for users.

Tools Used

Cinema4D, Adobe After Effects, Meta Spark AR

Credits

• Charles Drueco (Creative Director): Project Management & On Site Assistance
• Paul Ferraiolo (Director): Project Management & Direction
• Daniel Kim (Visual Designer): Animation Design
• Andrew Kim (Design Lead): Animation Design
• Designworks Automotive Team: 3D Modeling
• Donna Kwon (Presentation Design)